By Andy Villamarzo
Hernando Sun sports writer
Spring football practices in the state of Florida will begin to wrap up this week and Hernando County features all of its County programs playing a spring contest. We take a look at each of the five games on tap and what to watch for as we close out spring football.
Central at Dunedin: The battle is between two teams that combined to go winless in 2018. Both the Bears and Falcons have a chance to pick up a much needed win heading into the off-season and Central will have to travel down to central Pinellas County to do it. The Falcons are led by third-year coach Mitch Disney, while the Bears return second-year coach John Warren.
Hernando at Groveland South Lake: A 7-3 record and a postseason berth in Year 1 for Hernando’s Rob Kazmier was a nice feather in his coaching cap. Now Kazmier and crew have to replace a very talented offensive group and the Leopards will get their chance against Groveland South Lake, whom went 5-5 in the 2018 season.
Springstead at Dunnellon: Springstead has been seeing a lot of Dunnellon this spring between baseball and football. The Eagles faced the Tigers in the Class 6A, District 6 championship game for baseball and now close out spring football versus Dunnellon. This should be a tough task for Springstead, who still has several players playing baseball currently, including quarterback Max O’Rourke.
Clearwater Calvary Christian at Weeki Wachee: Weeki Wachee Will gets its first look under new head coach Chris Cook when they face off against Pinellas County power Calvary Christian. The Hornets were a pass-first team in 2018 but with quarterback Vaughn Sykora transferring to Nature Coast, that’s fully transitioned the team to be a run-first club.
Lakeland George Jenkins at Nature Coast: The quarterback battle between the incumbent Fabian Burnett and Weeki Wachee transfer Vaughn Sykora takes its first turn when both will see split time against George Jenkins in the preseason. Last season Nature Coast was primarily a run-first football team, but with two stellar quarterbacks should see plenty of time putting the ball through the air.
Andy Villamarzo can be reached at [email protected] and follow him on Twitter @avillamarzo.
